Books-n-Kisses is pleased to have Leslie Dicken to the blog today.
Welcome Leslie, I am so excited to finally have you here.
Leslie: Hi, Kelly. Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate your interest in my books! 🙂
Q1) Leslie, Can you tell us a little about you?
Leslie: I’m a mother of three and work full time. I also enjoy making jewelry when I can manage to find time!
Q2) How did you get into writing?
Leslie: Like many authors, I read a lot as a child and a teen and decided one day (while still in high school) that I wanted to write my own book. And so I did – a whole book, long hand. I’m sure it’s dreadful but I’m still proud of it.
Also, there are other authors in my family, so I believe that like “athleticism,” the desire to write can be inherited.
Q3) What do you find the most rewarding part of being an author?
Leslie: When a reader tells you how much they enjoyed your story. NOTHING tops that! I wish more readers would feel comfortable sending an email or somehow letting me know their thoughts.
Let’s talk about your books
Q4) Tell us where you came up with the idea for Taboo?
Leslie: Believe it or not, the core of TABOO started with a dream. I dreamt of a large building, which was impassible in the central floors. So there were people who lived on land and the sea and others who were stranded at the top. From there, I developed a background, plot and characters. The theme is like Romeo & Juliet, with lovers from opposite cultures.
Q5) Will we see more of these characters?
Leslie: Honestly, I had intended to write more of this world, but life and job and kids took over and by the time I could get back to it, my muse had switched to a different story idea. One day when I have more time…
Q6) The Price of Discovery, is a little more sci-fi-ish (is that a word). Tell us about this book.
Leslie: This book also started out from a dream. A pretty Victorian house in the middle of no where, but it had no bathroom! LOL! My mind couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I created a reason for this house and developed my humanoid aliens. The hero, Drakor, does not like Earth but is responsible for his family and a disease that is ravaging the people on his planet. My heroine is a reporter, just the right character to expose these aliens.
Q7) A Tarnished Heart. This is a great story of an accidently in love. Can you tell us a little about this story?
Leslie: This story idea came from the first RWA conference I attended in 2000. Jo Beverly said in a workshop that a bastard son could not inherit a title from his father. What a conflict! So my hero in this story thought he was the true earl until his father’s death, when he learns that the local vicar changed the birth records to conceal his bastard birth. This vicar has a daughter he wants to marry off to the aristocracy and so he blackmails the hero to court the heroine and have her fall in love with him. But nothing is ever that easy!
Q8) Beauty Tempts the Beast. I have not read this one yet but it is on my kindle to read. Tell us a little more about this story.
Leslie: This story finalled in RWA’s Golden Heart contest as MARK OF THE MONSTER. It was a blast to write. I have always had a mad love for Gothics and finally had the perfect plot to write one. My scarred (literally and figuratively) hero keeps himself isolated in his manor with only a handful of servants, his son and his son’s tutor. But then the heroine arrives and she refuses to believe in monsters or the rumors. Her presence changes all of their lives in ways none ever expected.
Q9) Do you have a favorite book that you have written? If so which one and why.
Leslie: Gosh, that’s like saying which of my kids I like best! LOL! I think BEAUTY might edge out the others because it seems to be the most popular one.
Q10) What is the one piece of advice you would give to anyone just starting out as a writer?
Leslie: It sounds cheesy, but it’s really the basics: believe in yourself, keep writing, learn all you can, and never stop reading
Q11) What is a typical writing day like for you?
Leslie: Unfortunately, I don’t often have “typical writing” days anymore. Now that my kids are older, they stay up later and need more help with homework, etc. My goal is grab moments when I can throughout the day: on breaks at work, when kids are watching TV, after they go to bed. Eventually, the pages pile up and a book is written.
Q12) What is the one book you think everyone should read?
Leslie: I’m assuming you mean a book that is not my own? If so, I’m a HUGE Harry Potter fan. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but as an author, I am beyond impressed by the world JK Rowling created. She has probably a hundred characters to keep straight, plus charms, spells, creatures, and more. And in all that she’s created character arcs and conflicts and resolutions. I’m completely amazed by the scope of it all.
Q13) can you tell us what your Current Work in Progress is?
Leslie: I’ve just started a new Gothic, A TOUCH OF MADNESS. My heroine has spent time in an asylum and still questions her sanity. The hero is a doctor who has come to care for her schizophrenic father. Of course, they both have many, many secrets to hide. 😉
Q14) I always like to ask what are you currently reading or what new release are you most excited for?
Leslie: I’ve just picked up my friend, Terri Garey’s DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE. I can’t wait to start it!
Q15) Anything else you would like to add?
Leslie: I have a new release, THE IRON HEART, coming out Valentines Day, 2012. It’s my first foray into Steampunk and includes murder, deception and automatons. 🙂
Books-n-Kisses: Leslie, Thank you so very, very much for sitting down and talking with me a for a little while. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Leslie: Thanks again for having me. These were great questions. I’m happy to come by anytime.
GIVEAWAY TIME..
Leslie is going to giveaway one e-book of the winners choice.
If you would like to have a chance to win:
Please leave a comment or questions for Leslie
Please leave your email
Giveaway will end Sept 21st.
Winner announced Sept 23rd
Want to learn more about Leslie?
Check her out here:
Website http://lesliedicken.com/
Great interview. I loved reading how Leslie is only able to write when she has spare moments! As a mother of two teenagers I can completely relate!
iarvd@yahoo.com
Great interview! And I definitely have to read your book Beauty tempts the Beast. I absolutely adore re-takes on fables and fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella. Thanks for the giveaway.
LadyVampire2u AT gmail DOT com
Great interview & Thanks for the giveaway. 🙂 i would love to win "Beauty Tempts the Beast."
terri m
oklahomamommy0306@gmail.com
What a great interview! I enjoyed hearing about Leslie's process. How writers write is interesting, as well as why they tell the stories they do. Thanks!
I really like the sound of 'The Price Of Discovery' & 'Beauty Tempts The Beast' and will have to add them to my ever growing wish list 😀
As a lover of all variants of the 'Beauty and The Beast' stories I wondered if the orignal influenced you in any way with the writing of your Beauty book?
Hi all. Thanks for the comments. My favorite Disney movie is BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and so it's no wonder I've written a book like it! I like the wounded hero, the fiesty heroine, and the realization that beauty truly is far more than skin-deep.
I look forward to any other questions! 🙂
I've heard great things about Leslie! I have A Tarnished Heart on my to be read shelf!
What a wonderful interview! I loved learning your process, Leslie! I can't wait to read these. They're waiting on my Kindle for that mythical stuff called "time".
~X
I can definitely see how a love of reading can translate into writing. I have even heard of people deciding to write because they ran out of things to read. I'm not at that point yet as my TBR pile is overflowing. I may have to add some gothic books to my list as it's been awhile since I read one. Great interview.
Cambonified {at} yahoo {dot} com
I enjoyed the interview and learning a bit about you. How do you celebrate new contracts/new releases?
I'd love to read Beauty Tempts the Beast first – I loved the Disney version, too.
Thank you.
k(dot)cherub2011(at)gmail(dot)com
All these books sound amazing!
Are there any sci-fi stories in particular that inspired you to write "The price of discovery"?
I forgot my e-mail 🙁
Mierke_Maria(at)hotmail.com